The present disclosure relates generally to equipment utilized and operations performed in conjunction with a subterranean well and, in an embodiment described herein, more particularly provides an expanded non-bonded mesh well screen.
Well screens are typically used to exclude sand and formation fines from fluids produced from subterranean wells. Where wire mesh is used as a filter layer in a well screen, it has been found that bonding operations (such as welding and brazing) performed on the wire mesh are detrimental to the long-term usefulness of the wire mesh. For example, the wire mesh may be thus made more susceptible to erosion.
An attempt has been made to address the problems associated with a bonded wire mesh filter layer by swaging an entire screen jacket including the filter layer onto a base pipe. An overlap in a wrap of the wire mesh filter layer is used instead of welding to seal the filter layer against sand migration. However, this method of swaging the screen jacket also imparts undesirable stress concentrations in the filter layer, which can lead to premature failure.
Therefore, it will be appreciated that improvements are needed in the art of constructing well screens. These improvements may find use in well screens which either do or do not have wire mesh filter layers.